“It seems so out of the realm of possibility. I feel like I don’t even have to answer your question. At some point in my life, I would like to have an opportunity if it’s handed to me to serve on a national level," she said then. "But I don’t think it’s going to happen on this go around.”

Palin said at the time that McCain should choose a governor as his running mate.

"I do think there needs to be a governor on the ticket. A governor on the front line, administering bureaucracy and setting good policy for the people for whom they are serving. They know how to run government.

In many ways Palin is considered a good match for Sen. John McCain: young, conservative, a reformer who took on and beat Alaska's old guard Republican machine, and hugely popular.

On the other hand, Alaska may be geographically large, but in the presidential race it’s the electoral map that counts, and Alaska only has three electoral votes.